Lucky Numbers and Symbols

Their Meanings Around the World

Travel to any country in the world, and any region within that country, and you'll
probably find superstitions about what is lucky and unlucky. Often descended
from religious or spiritual backgrounds, some symbols and numbers just seem to
possess a special significance whether you see them in the street, in sport or art.
You might even have a lucky number yourself, which you use on
supercasino.com even though you know it's a game of chance.

If we take a purely scientific look at the UK lottery we can see that the number 23
is the most common, with 266 appearances since the draw started in 1994 - 62
times more than 20, the least frequent number.

Conspiracy theorists, cryptologists and authors such as William S. Burroughs
have long held a belief in the 23 Enigma, a theory based on the fact that the
number seems to be linked to many events in life such as parents each
contributing 23 chromosomes to the foetus. There's even a Jim Carrey film based
on the phenomena.

And the number 7 really does always seem to have a special place in people's
hearts; there are seven wonders of the word, seven deadly sins, and the world
(with seven continents) was created in seven days. There are many references to
the number in popular culture, and a poll of 30,000 people chose the number as
their favorite in this Daily Mail piece.

So if some numbers are more common than others, and luckier than others, then
why aren't we all winning? A quick online search for 'System Pick 3' brings up
almost 7.5 million results, referring to a strategy for playing the various Pick 3
Lotteries in each American state. These lotteries, costing just 50 cents to enter,
are obviously popular, and it appears many strategists think they have the tools
to win.

So the reason that we don't all strike it rich may be this: each number that is
lucky in one place might not carry the same luck elsewhere, and may sometimes
be downright avoided. We all know about a fear of number 13, but Tetraphobia -
a fear of the number four - is also quite common in Asia, in a direct contrast to
our appreciation of the four-leafed clover.

The Asian apprehension may perhaps lie in the similarity between its sound and
the Chinese word for death. The number three, in a curiously satisfying way, is
similar to the word for birth - and is therefore regarded as lucky. It even extends
to any number with the digit 4 in it, so you may often find hotels missing floor
numbers 14, 24 and others. And if youre interested, a fear of the number 666 is
called Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia.

In Russia odd numbers are regarded as lucky, while evens are unlucky and even
offensive - to the point where someone buying flowers as a gift should always
buy an odd number. And Italians have a terror of the number 17 which may
originate in the fact that a rearrangement of XIVI is VIXI, meaning 'my life is
over.' Leeds Utd owner Massimo Cellino even used his mistrust of 17 to sack a
player in the summer, as reported in the Guardian.

As well as numbers, animals, signs and natural phenomena all seem to have their
own symbolism. In Ancient Egypt scarab beetles were regarded as lucky, as a
symbol of the rising sun and protector from evil, and cats were revered;
meanwhile, in modern western culture, black cats are unlucky. Money spiders
will bring financial happiness, a rabbit's foot is lucky, and cows are sacred. Even
the position of some common signs can be relevant. A horseshoe pointing
downwards is said to represent the womb, and holds good luck inside. If it points
upwards it represents the moon.

It seems that if some superstitions have survived for thousands of years one
would assume they will continue to retain their status, even if there is no basis in
fact or experience. But perhaps that's the whole point - we believe what we want
to believe because they're our special numbers, and it doesn't matter what
anyone else thinks!